Migraine - It's Causes

What is Migraine ?

Migraine is a neurological disease of which the most common symptom is an intense and disabling episodic headache. Migraine headaches are usually characterized by severe pain on one or both sides of the head. Absent serious head injuries, stroke, and tumors, the recurring severity of the pain indicates a vascular headache rather than a tension headache . More than 28 million Americans three times more women than men suffer from migraine headaches, a type of headache that's often severe. In some cases, these painful headaches are preceded or accompanied by a sensory warning sign such as flashes of light, blind spots or tingling in your arm or leg. A migraine headache is also often accompanied by other signs and symptoms, such as nausea, vomiting, and extreme sensitivity to light and sound.

A migraine can be disabling — with symptoms so severe, all you can think about is finding a dark, quiet place to lie down. Up to 17 percent of women and 6 percent of men have experienced a migraine.

More than 29.5 million Americans suffer from migraine, with women being affected three times more often than men. This vascular headache is most commonly experienced between the ages of 15 and 55, and 70% to 80% of sufferers have a family history of migraine. Less than half of all migraine sufferers have received a diagnosis of migraine from their healthcare provider. Migraine is often misdiagnosed as sinus headache or tension-type headache.

What are the Causes of migraine?

Until recently, the general theory on the migraine process rested solely on the idea that abnormalities of blood vessel (vascular) systems in the head were responsible for migraines. Now, however, experts tend to believe that migraine starts with an underlying central nervous system disorder. When triggered by various stimuli, this disorder sets off a chain of neurologic and biochemical events, some of which subsequently affect the brain's vascular system. No experimental model fully explains the migraine process.

There is certainly a strong genetic component in migraine with or without auras. Researchers have located a single genetic mutation responsible for the very rare familial hemiplegic migraine, but several genes are likely to be involved in the great majority of migraine cases. Numerous chemicals, structures, nerve pathways, and other players involved in the process are under investigation.
A migraine begins when, for some reason, blood vessels in the brain narrow (constrict) temporarily. When that happens, the amount of blood and oxygen flowing to the brain drops. So the brain sends a message: "Hey guys, we need some more blood and oxygen here!"

What are migraine triggers?

A migraine trigger is any factor that causes a headache in individuals who are prone to develop headaches. Only a small proportion of migraine sufferers, however, clearly can identify triggers.

Disturbances such as sleep deprivation, too much sleep, poor quality of sleep, and frequent awakening at night are associated with both migraine and tension headaches, whereas improved sleep habits have been shown to reduce the frequency of migraine headaches

Caffeine is contained in many food products (cola, tea, chocolates, coffee) and OTC analgesics.

Some women who suffer from migraine headaches experience more headaches around the time of their menstrual periods.

Listed below are more articles related to the above article from the "Migraine Headaches" article category.

People interested in the above article "Migraine - It's Causes" are also interested in the related articles listed below:

Headaches - Types Of Headaches

Headache is defined as pain in the head that is located above the eyes or the ears, behind the head (occipital), or in the back of the upper neck. Headache, like chest pain or dizziness, has many causes. Most headaches happen outside the skull, in the nerves, blood vessels, and muscles that cover the head and neck. The muscles or blood vessels can swell, tighten, or go through other changes that stimulate or put pressure on the surrounding nerves. These nerves send a rush of pain messages to the brain, which brings on a headache.

How to Treat Migraine

There's no mistaking a migraine, that is, unless you've come up with another explanation for the throbbing head pain, intense nausea, and sensory sensitivity that can last for days. Even if medication works to ease migraines, it doesn't address the problems that may be behind the attacks, such as physical and emotional strain, physiological imbalances, food sensitivities and nutrient deficiencies. This is where natural approaches can help most.

Know about Migraine Treatment

Pain killers don't treat the pain but we lose the sense of pain for some time; in that duration our body itself treats sometime and credit goes to meds.The useless drugs have tremendous power of side effects like liver/kidney failures, ulcer, inflammation of intestines and lot more.

Safe and Natural Cures for Headache

Headache is almost never located in the brain. There is actually not much ability at all to sense pain in the mass of the brain - surgeons do for instance not use anesthetics on the brain when they perform brain surgery.

Tips to Get Rid of Headache

Headaches are common pains that anyone can suffer. They can be caused by many factors such as stress, working for extended hours in front of the computer to injury and migraines which may be triggered by allergies such as food. Whatever the cause may be, the fact remains that having a headache is very uncomfortable and may keep you from performing to your full potentials. One need not suffer so much because of it, especially if the problem is constant and may keep you from being productive.

Effective Migraine Treatment Methods

The treatment to migraine with drugs can be approached in two ways either by preventing the attack or by relieving the symptoms during the attack. This article discusses some of the effective treatment methods to control migraine.

Proven Methods for Migraine Relief

The main objective of migraine relief is to relieve the pain after it has started and just before it gets worse. This article lists out some of the time-tested methods that help reduce the pains to a great extent.